This invention deals with an apparatus that is useful to solve a major problem in handling coiled wire. Coiled wire is commercially packed, shipped and stored in a coiled configuration, most of the time using a storage container.
As a consequence, it takes on a certain cast to the metal such that when the wire is uncoiled for use, it forms a sine wave in configuration and if the wire is not handled correctly, this sine wave configuration (the cast of the wire) can become helical in nature and can lead to snarled, crimped, or bent wire.
In use for welding, where the wire is fed to a welding gun, the wire enters the gun through the rear of the gun and is subjected to electrical energy wherein it melts and is placed into channels in the metal to be welded to form a weld bead.
In cases where only short segments of the wire are needed, the cast of the wire does not ordinarily make a difference, but where long weld beads are required, the wire has to be controlled before entering the welding gun.
If not controlled, the wire, upon leaving the tip of the welding gun, and before it is melted, typically bends in any given direction and does not lay into the channel to form the bead. Thus, one is forced to use short segments of wire (which do not retain the cast of the coiled wire), or the wire is short enough that it can be hand bent to get rid of the wire cast and provide a straight piece of wire.
Even in longer segments, the wire, if not controlled, tends to re-coil, that is, attempts to resume its original cast, or bends out of linearity and causes disruptions in the equipment, which causes a disruption of the welding process and a possible shutdown of the equipment for repair. It also provides snarled and bent wire which is useless for re-use and is costly to replace.
The assembly provided by this invention assists the removal of the wire from stored packaging and helps deliver the wire to a wire feed by modifying the cast from the sine wave of the stored wire before it forms into a helical coil and presents problems. This device is especially useful for transferring long segments of wire, sometimes as long as up to one hundred feet long.
The device provides a simple system to provide straight wire to a welding gun and in addition allows the positioning of the plastic conduit in which it is carried throughout the manufacturing facility, in and around the equipment found in the conventional manufacturing situation so that the wire does not provide an unsafe condition in the manufacturing facility. The patentee is not aware of any such assembly in use today.